The Red Kimono

"The Red Kimona" is a film created to explore a social evil; it's one of a series of pictures made for that purpose in the early days of cinema. (See the work of director Lois Weber for additional examples.) It's not a movie for everybody--viewers looking for pure entertainment will prefer the slapstick comedies or adventure stories of the silent era--but for those interested in social history, and able to take the picture on its own old-fashioned terms, it's a very watchable if melodramatic film, with excellent production values and a fine cast. (In fact, I didn't mean to watch the whole thing in one sitting, but had trouble turning it off.)

I loved Priscilla Bonner in the main role (she's best known today for a supporting part in Clara Bow's "It," but also does one of the most heartfelt close-ups I've ever seen on film in Harry Langdon's "The Strong Man"). Her character changes convincingly as the story goes through several years--at one point Bonner seems to age before the audience's eyes as her character faces a tough choice. The camera-work and lighting are very striking, and certainly work to help Bonner's performance. A few sequences make good use of on-the-spot locations, like the Giant Dipper roller coaster at (I believe) the Venice, CA amusement pier, and the downtown streets of Los Angeles. The supporting players all look interesting and do well. I agreed with another reviewer that the costumes were a little confusing, since they appear to be from the early 1920's although the film is set in 1917. They don't all quite look like the fashions of 1925, when the film was released, but they don't seem totally pre-war either. (The title refers to a dressing gown the heroine wears.) But period costume authenticity was something that wouldn't really be established until later in film history.

Modern viewers may have difficulty with some details of the plot, as I did. Because of the censorship laws of the time, the filmmakers presumably weren't allowed to mention the word "prostitution," so it took me a little while to figure out exactly what was going on. But it eventually became clear.

The Kino DVD release has a pleasant, low-key piano soundtrack by Robert Israel that I really enjoyed.

A melodramatic story based on a real woman, whose (oops) identity wasn't changed nor her approval sought, resulting in a lawsuit afterwards. Nonetheless it's pretty cool that this was written, directed, and produced by women (Dorothy Davenport for the latter two), and I liked the visual effect with the red overlays on clothing and streetlights, and orange in a brief scene showing WWI.

The film supports "fallen" women in the sense that it says they're a victim of circumstance, are sympathetic characters, and can be redeemed, which I believe are the reasons the film was banned in some places (kind of surprising when you watch it now). At the same time, it also implies they're tainted, need a white knight figure to make them honest, and need to work hard to be worthy of happiness, all of which seems dated now. Overall though, there is empathy, and out of several Biblical allusions, it picks a good one in "he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

The pace of the film is on the slow side as it plays itself out, told partially in a flashback, so I don't think it's one I could truly love. On the other hand, it has a pretty good performance from Priscilla Bonner, and various street scenes and carnival rides, and while those seem to appear rather often in films from this era, they always work for me. It's decent enough to take a look.

Dorothy Davenport Reid (1895-1977) was one of the most important women producer/directors during the 1920s. She came from a distinguished theatrical family. Her father Harry Davenport is best remembered as Dr. Meade in GONE WITH THE WIND. She was married to early matinee idol Wallace Reid hence her being known as Mrs Wallace Reid. When he died in 1923 of complications from drug addiction, she became an advocate for social causes. Her hard hitting film about drug addiction HUMAN WRECKAGE (1923) with Bessie Love and her next film BROKEN LAWS no longer survive but THE RED KIMON0, a film about prostitution made in 1925, does.

While the real life story of New Orleans prostitute Gabrielle Darley who murders her pimp/lover is melodramatized for the screen, it remains surprisingly effective thanks to the lead performance of Priscilla Bonner (IT, THE STRONG MAN). There are also small parts for silent film regulars Tyrone Power Sr, Virginia Pearson, and George Siegmann. The direction is credited solely to Walter Lang who would become an in-house workhorse at 20th Century Fox for many years but the film was co-directed by Reid. Why she chose to leave her name off is curious. Perhaps as producer and with her appearance as herself, she felt it would be a case of overkill. Who can say. By the early 1930s with the advent of sound and the studio system firmly in place her career was over although she lived another 40+ years.

Today like so many of the women film pioneers she is forgotten but hopefully the release of this film on DVD along with the two others in the FIRST LADIES: EARLY WOMEN FILMMAKERS series from Kino will help to correct that. While not a great film, THE RED KIMONO is an important one and still plays well today. The social criticism of judgmental attitudes and misplaced philanthropy is still relevant to our time. The print from the Library Of Congress looks great and the hand tinted red sequences for certain scenes have been beautifully restored. Robert Israel's piano score is also a plus. The title comes from the article of clothing worn by Gabrielle as a prostitute...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

"The Red Kimona" is a social commentary film that in some ways is very, very, very old fashioned and hokey. Interestingly, on the other hand, it also manages to be very modern in its sensibilities as well! This odd combination of the old and new make for a film that is interesting to watch but not exactly a must-see as far as silent films are concerned.

The film is a piece of social commentary. The subject of the film is a young woman who comes from a horrible home. Her mother and father are wretched jerks and she's longing for love. When she meets a man who says he loves her and wants to marry her, she's thrilled--not knowing that he has no such intentions. Instead, he forces himself on her and then keeps her as a virtual slave. She eventually escapes and later kills him when she discovers he's about to do this same thing to another woman. All this happens early in the film and most of the plot actually involves her life after these tragedies--and how society often fails women like this--treating them like lepers instead of victims. In fact, it's rather frank discussion of this is quite shocking for the times and must have raised a few eyebrows! The movie is interesting due to its social advocacy as well as the sensationalistic actions. However, despite this, the movie also is very preachy (with lots of Biblical references that seem a bit out of place and heavy-handed) and very conventional--like a 19th century play. As a result, it's interesting more as a curio than for its dramatic structure.

Overall verdict--it's worth seeing if you are a fan of silents, but otherwise it's skippable. Not bad, but not great.

A woman recounts the true story of Gabrielle (Priscilla Bonner). Gabrielle finds her boyfriend Howard Blaine buying a wedding ring for someone else and she shoots him dead. In the ensuing trial, she recounts how she followed him from her small town to the big city where he convinced her to prostitute herself.

The red kimona refers to one scene in the movie when Gabrielle looks into a mirror. She first wishes to see a bridal gown but then sees that she reflects the red kimona of prostitution. The red in the kimona is probably hand painted one cell at a time. There is also a scarlet A and a red street light later in the movie. There are other notables about the production. It had a woman filmmaker and they got sued by the real person when they used her real name. The irony is hard to ignore. The drama of the story does fade as it gets away from the initial shooting incident. It meanders a bit. I get the scarlet letter idea. It gets a bit preachy and also preachy about being preachy. It's a fallen woman movie on one hand and points a finger at the gawkers staring at the fallen woman. The film leans on its Christian values and in a way, it has a lot in common with modern Christian movies except the modern ones don't like to talk about sex. It was probably very progressive for its time.